So I Stayed In The Darkness With You
by applesandcherries
Summary: Someone from Helena's past steps back into her undead existence – and also harboring a bit of an interest in Myka, causing the vampire and her lover some unease. - Sequel to my Vamp!AU fic "So Darkness I Became"
1. Chapter 1

Title: So I Stayed In The Darkness With You

Autor: phoenix-cry / applesandcherries

Rating: T (for now)

Disclaimer: None of the recognizable characters are mine, I'm just borrowing them for a bit. I promise I will hand them back when I'm done.

Summary: Someone from Helena's past steps back into her undead existence – and also harboring a bit of an interest in Myka, causing the vampire and her lover some unease.

A/N: Any of you familiar with Jaime's latest movie Fright Night 2 (let's be real, though. Who isn't?) will probably be a bit confused by the appearance of a certain historic figure, for which I apologize. The use of this character was decided waaaay before I even knew Jaime was doing Fright Night (yes, that's how long it took me to get back to this fic. I had the first bit written sometime in May, I think...oops). I hope you'll get to enjoy this fic anyways (especially since so many of you have been asking for a sequel. Again, I'm sorry it took me to long to write/post it)!

Special thanks go to Ella, for her great beta work! :D

* * *

Chapter 1

_London, England_

_November, 1893_

"H.G.! What in the Queen's name is this?"

Helena rolled her eyes when she heard Wolcott's voice invading her private sanctuary amongst the endless stacks of the Warehouse. However, she did not bother to straighten from her hunched over position at her workbench, nor did she take her eyes off her research when she heard her partner rounding the last corner and stepping up beside her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see him waving a small stack of papers in her direction.

"How would I dare to presume to know what it is you are waving like a lunatic in my face, Woolly, since I am obviously not omniscient, nor have I ever been, despite what you may think."

The young man huffed in annoyance. "You know, there are in fact times, when I do not appreciate your sense of humor."

"What sense of humor, Woolly? This was, in fact, sarcasm at its very finest."

"If you say so, H.G."

But Helena was already deeply immersed in her research again, causing Wolcott's brows to furrow and a deep sigh to emerge from his chest. Instead of trying to get her attention back verbally, he just proceeded to dump the papers in front of her with a thump.

Helena jumped slightly, but did not say anything for a long time.

Eventually, she pushed the papers aside with a sigh. Without meeting his eyes, she cleared her throat and then simply said, "It's research, Woolly. Leave it."

"No, I am not 'leaving it'!" Daring to make physical contact with his genius of a partner, he settled his hand on her shoulder and pulled her around to face him.

She glared at him, but for once, he didn't let it frazzle him. "That 'research', as you call it, is bloody dangerous! I know you can be quite reckless sometimes, but H.G., whatever you are trying to accomplish with this, it can only end in disaster. Please, stop."

Helena looked at him seriously for a few long moments, seeming to honestly ponder what he had said, but then he saw the openness in her eyes shut down and he knew what her answer would be before she even opened her mouth to say the words.

Stepping back, and dislodging his hands from her shoulders, she shook her head, a few strands of her long black hair caressing her cheeks with the motion. Honest regret colored her voice, but her conviction held strong. "I am sorry, Woolly, I truly am, but I will not stop what I have started until I have the answers I seek." Steel then took over her vocal chords and she added, "I ask you not to interfere in my work again, is that clear?"

Wolcott swallowed and despite the sadness that swept over him like a bucket of cold water, he nodded.

He knew that there was no helping her now.

Glancing at the papers still scattered across her desk, one name in particular caught his eye, causing an inevitable shudder to travel through his lean frame.

_Erszebet Báthory_

_The Blood Countess_

* * *

The early morning sunlight filtering in through Myka's half opened drapes was slowly creeping over the wooden floor towards the lone occupant of the bed, until it finally bathed pale skin in a golden hue. One of Myka's legs had kicked itself free of the sheets while she slept, and was now covered in goose bumps from the slight chill that had settled over the room during the night.

In her sleep, Myka wiggled her nose slightly, the sun's warmth tickling her skin. One hand came up to scratch away the itch, but the sunlight was being insistent. A few minutes later, Myka was raised from her sleep when the itch was getting too hard to ignore. Groaning, the young woman rolled over, turning her back to the window, regretting not having had the energy to fully close the curtains the evening before.

Burrowing her face further into the softness of her pillow, just to stave off the day a few moments longer, Myka breathed in the still lingering scent of Helena's shampoo. A smile inevitably snuck onto her lips, as quickly as the thought of the other woman set her heart racing in her chest.

Helena had spent more nights in Myka's bed in the last few weeks, ever since Artie and the others had come around to seeing things her way. Well, not exactly her way, since they weren't in love with the vampire the way Myka was.

Her lover had also seen to it to procure a safe-house for herself, closer to Univille, in order to spend her days there, safely tucked away where no deadly sunlight could reach her pale skin. It also allowed her to spend more time in Myka's company after the sun had set for the day.

Turning back over onto her back, the former secret service agent pushed a few unruly curls out of her face and blinked against the light. For one barely-there moment, she felt awash with sorrow, because she would never get to wake up like this with Helena tucked into her side. She would never see her wake from slumber, blearily blinking her dark eyes against the still-lingering sleep. She would never get to kiss her, morning breath and all, with the sun painting her skin a lovely gold.

Rubbing her eyes to discard the depressing thoughts gnawing at her brain, she groaned again and pushed herself into a sitting position. She cast a half heartened glare at the partially closed curtains and then swung her legs over the side of the bed. The sudden chill made her shiver and she wished she could just go back to sleep, but she could hear work calling to her.

Shuffling into the bathroom for a quick shower, she turned the water slightly cooler than she preferred , in an attempt to wake up more fully, and gasped when the spray hit her skin. Shivering, she forced herself to step fully under the cascade of water, needing the invigoration it gave her tired body.

Quickly washing her hair, all the while fighting with some knots in her stubborn curls, and then proceeding to scrub her skin, she was out of the shower in five minutes, already yearning for some strong coffee.

She got dressed for the day, and after trying – and failing – to get some semblance of order into her hair, she made her way downstairs for breakfast.

Turning the corner into the dining room, she saw that Artie was already sitting at the table, an open file loosely held in one hand, and a steaming cup of coffee in the other. Leena entered from the kitchen, and set a fresh jar of orange juice onto the table.

"Good morning, Myka," she greeted, a smile present on her lovely face.

"Morning, Leena. Morning, Artie," Myka said, causing Artie to look up from his read and mutter a distracted 'Morning' in her direction.

Taking her usual place at the table, Myka's first course of action was to reach for the coffee and pour herself a cup. Then she took a deep breath and enjoyed the aroma of this particular blend. Daring to take a sip of the hot beverage, she already felt the last vestiges of sleep that had still been clinging at her and that not even the shower had managed to get rid of, drift away.

The agent enjoyed the comfortable silence while she still could, because she knew that once the other three occupants of the B&B arrived, the silence would be over.

A few minutes later, her suspicions were confirmed, when she heard Pete half-jumping, half-running down the stairs. He had obviously smelled the fresh pancakes.

"Gooood morning, campers!" he exclaimed, and came skidding to a stop beside his chair. He pulled it away from the table to make room for his body and then proceeded to unceremoniously flop into it.

"Morning, Pete," Myka answered, an amused smile on her face at his usual display of childishness. The smile, however, was replaced by a long yawn, which Myka desperately tried to cover behind her hand, but of course, Pete had caught it.

"Geez, Mykes! What kept you up? Did H.G. sneak in while no one was looking?"

Myka glared at him half heartedly and dabbed the tear from her eye the yawn had left in its wake. "Maybe I'm just tired because a certain someone kept me up with barely suppressed shouts at his nintendo."

"Playstation, dude. It's a Playstation. The newest one too, so don't go badmouthing it."

"I'm not badmouthing your play-thing, I'm badmouthing you." Myka snarked back, not wanting to admit that it had indeed been Helena who had held her attention until late into the night, and that sleep had not been on the forefront of her mind.

Now that she was thinking about it, she had to admit that sleep had been a bit more rare as of late.

It was worth it, Myka thought resolutely. Helena was worth it.

Her thought process was interrupted, when the youngest members of their team also joined them at the table, and over talk of the last mission and a lively discussion about which sort of pancakes was the best, they enjoyed their food.

Much too soon for their taste, Artie made them hurry up and get going since "there were pings waiting to be investigated" and "the inventory was not going to do itself". So, with a lot of groans of protest, most of them coming from Pete and Claudia, they grabbed their jackets and headed off to the warehouse.

All through the day, there were in fact no new pings to be investigated, but to everybody's regret, still a lot of inventory to do. The day passed slowly, and only after the sun had long since vanished behind the horizon did they emerge from the enormous building.

Each of them took a deep breath of the fresh South Dakotan air, relishing the way it expanded their lungs.

Filtering into their cars, they made their way back to the B&B, where they knew dinner was already waiting for them.

"I can't wait to see what deliciousness Leena's made for us. I swear, that woman is the best cook I've ever come across. Anything she makes is so incredibly tasty!" Pete swooned, while clambering out from behind the steering wheel, once he had put the SUV in park in front of their home.

When Myka stepped out of the vehicle behind the others, a shiver ran down her spine and the fine hairs at the back of her neck rose to attention. Casting a glance at Pete, since vibes were his forte, she furrowed a brow when he didn't so much as pause in his narration of his favorite dishes.

Glancing around, to see if she could spy what was causing her figurative hackles to rise, she could, however, not see anything out of the ordinary. Willing her eyes to see further into the darkness around her, she wished she had Helena's night vision.

Helena.

No, whatever was watching her was not her favorite vampire. Helena would have no need to sneak around in the shadows. Not anymore.

"Yo, Mykes, what's keeping you? C'mon, dinner is waiting!"

"Yeah," she mumbled, distracted, not taking her eyes off her surroundings. Still not being able to distinguish tree from foe, she finally made her way over to where her partner was waiting for her on the porch.

"Everything alright?" Pete asked, picking up on her distraction.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm sure it's nothing. I just..." her brows furrowed, and she scratched her neck, while casting one last look over her shoulder, "I just felt like somebody was watching me or something."

"Really? I didn't get a vibe or anything."

"I'm probably just tired. I'm sure it's nothing." Giving him a playful shove to his shoulder, she forced a grin onto her face. "Come on, partner, let's get you something to eat, before you starve right in front of me."

All throughout dinner, though, she could not shake the feeling of somebody watching her.

"Let me help you with those dishes, Leena." Myka volunteered, after the last bit of the delicious meal had been consumed and nothing but empty plates remained on the table. Getting up from her seat, she started stacking the dirty dishes and made her way towards the kitchen, and deposited them on the counter.

"Thank you, Myka." Leena said, in her usual quiet way, and helped the other woman load them into the dishwasher. "Is everything okay?" She asked, after a minute spent in comfortable silence. "You've been a bit jumpy all throughout dinner."

Myka's brows furrowed. "I have?" She honestly hadn't noticed. She had thought to have masked her feelings of disquiet pretty well, not wanting to alarm her friends necessarily. Apparently, she had been mistaken. Shaking her head, she took a minute to gather her thoughts. "It's just...earlier this evening, when we got back here from the warehouse, I had this unsettling feeling of someone watching me. This feeling continued all throughout dinner. Pete isn't having any vibes, so I'm sure it's nothing, but I just can't seem to shake it."

Leena's brows furrowed as well, as concern became visible on her features. "That is strange. You're sure it's not just Helena, keeping an eye on you?"

The agent shook her head with certainty. "I'm sure it's not her. I know what Helena's gaze feels like and that's not it. Besides, she could just come inside and wouldn't need to spend the night sneaking around the house and watching through windows."

"Yes, of course," Leena agreed. "Just stay alert, and let us know if there is anything more you find unusual."

"I will," Myka promised, a slight, nervous smile on her lips.

The sudden knock on the front door had her almost dropping the last plate she was about to put in the washer. Apparently she really was more jumpy than she had anticipated.

"I got it!" Claudia yelled from the hallway, and a moment later, Myka felt a pleasant tingle run down her spine. A smile that had been absent for most of the evening, finally overtook her features and added a glow to them. Without having to look, she knew who had just entered the building.

Ever since Helena had first drank her blood, and they had solidified their connection, Myka could feel whenever Helena was close by. She cherished it.

"Oh, hey, H.G.!" she heard Claudia exclaim. "Come on in, Myka's in the kitchen, I think."

"Thank you, dear." Helena's silky voice carried throughout the B&B and Myka shuddered again, this time due to the sudden arousal that had settled deep in her stomach. How the vampire's voice could have this effect on her, she would probably never figure out.

A welcoming chill swept over her and curled between her shoulder blades, as Helena entered the kitchen silently and stepped close to her, her hand trailing a gentle caress down her spine.

"Good evening, my love," she greeted and dropped a kiss to the exposed skin of her neck.

Turning around to look at her girlfriend, Myka smiled even more brightly. "Hello, Helena," she returned the greeting, and pressed a quick kiss against willing lips. "I was wondering when you'd get here," she mumbled, her voice muffled by the slight contact still maintained between their mouths.

Helena hummed and captured her lover's lips in a bit more demanding kiss, before stepping back slightly. "I do apologize for keeping you waiting, love, but in these parts, it is proving a bit more difficult to find willing prey."

"Ah, right. No big city underground discos around here. I'm sorry."

"Whatever are you apologizing for, darling? It is not your fault that the Warehouse is located in the most absurd of places," Helena teased, a content sparkle in her dark eyes.

"You have a valid point there. I should just stop apologizing and resume kissing you."

"Oh, please do."

They leaned back in for another kiss, but before they even got the chance to breathe the same air again, a cough interrupted them.

Glancing over at the innkeeper they had shortly forgotten was in the room with them, Myka could feel a slight blush painting her cheeks.

"I don't mind the kissing, ladies, but could you do it somewhere that's not my kitchen? Your room, perhaps?" Leena tried to sound stern, but her attempt was doomed for failure, when her cheeks twitched, obviously trying to cover up a smile that was fighting to escape.

"Certainly," H.G. easily agreed and took a hold of Myka's hand, gently pulling her along.

In very un-Myka like fashion, the curly haired woman couldn't help but giggle, as she stumbled up the stairs after her girlfriend, their hands firmly locked together.

A few more steps, and they were stepping over the threshold to her room. Before Myka could fully comprehend what was happening, she was being pushed backwards against the closed door, a hand coming up between her shoulder blades to cushion the impact, and then Helena's mouth was on hers.

Myka moaned at the insistent press of the vampire's lips against her own, and all too willingly, she complied to the silent request to open her mouth. Welcoming Helena's tongue with a caress of her own, she relished the spark the contact sent down her spine.

Before she could fully take her fill, however, H.G. pulled back and dropped a parting kiss to Myka's brow.  
Lazy eyes fluttered open in confusion, and she stared at the vampire, uncomprehendingly.

"Wha-"

"Darling, before we continue on this road to pleasure, why don't you tell me first what has you bothered so?"

"I'm not-"

"Ah!" The Brit interrupted, a stern look on her face. For some reason, she reminded Myka of her third grade teacher. "I can smell the distress on you, love. It is a very distinct scent. Please, do me the courtesy and try not to fool me. It does not do well for either of us, since it will just keep us from the more pleasurable things even longer," she murmured, and the path her tongue trailed up Myka's neck drove the point home perfectly.

Half-choking on the gasp threatening to escape, she nodded distractedly. "Uh, yeah. Of course. I'm sorry." Myka managed and fell silent, enjoying the feel Helena's mouth was invoking.

The vampire stopped.

Myka whined.

"I'm still waiting for an explanation, darling. Please, do hurry it along, won't you?" H.G teased, and Myka could feel her grin against the skin of her neck.

Trying mightily to summon the last remaining bit of her concentration, she took a deep breath. Which proved to be a mistake, since it filled her nose with Helena's alluring scent.

She groaned.

"I'm just being paranoid, Helena. I'm sure it's all in my imagination."

Helena leaned back slightly and caught her gaze. "What is?"

"That someone is watching me. I felt it earlier this evening, when we got home from the warehouse."

For a second, the vampire's eyes glinted dangerously, until all emotion seemed to get locked away before Myka's very eyes. The process was a bit unsettling to witness, to say the least.

"When you say you 'felt it', what exactly do you mean by that? How did it feel?"

The agent's brows furrowed in thought. "I felt chilled. I could feel it like a cold caress, like when you trail your hand down my spine, just not in a loving way. It felt...menacing."

A growl bubbled out of Helena's throat, startling Myka. Another kiss was pressed against her brow, holding a taste of apology in it.

"I am sorry, love, but we will have to postpone our evening's activities, I'm afraid."

"Why, where are you going?"

"Hunting."

"But...I thought you'd already fed for the night?"

"It is not for food I am leaving you, my love."

"Then...oh." She paused, and the words came spilling out, even though she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer. "What's going on, Helena?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

The raven-haired woman hesitated for the slightest second before answering. "It seems another vampire has entered my territory and is trying to stake its claim on it."

"By stalking me?"

"To weaken a vampire, it is sometimes easiest to take away that which they cherish most, darling."

"Oh."

"Indeed," Helena agreed, offering a smile that was supposed to have a calming effect, but was only managing to spike Myka's sudden flare of anxiety.

"Helena, don't. I'll be fine! There's no need to go after this other vampire!" Myka tried to convince her, pleading with her to stay.

"I have no doubt that you are very capable of protecting yourself, love. Your strength is one of the aspects that first drew me to you. However, you have never had to fight a vampire before. And even you, my darling Amazon, are no match for one."

Myka swallowed hard, before grasping Helena's cheeks in her hands, desperate to keep her here in this room, where nothing could happen to either of them. "Please, Helena. Please stay here and don't go looking for them. What if-" she broke off, not able to finish the most dire of thoughts.

"Oh, my love, do not worry. This will not be...how do you say it? My first rodeo?" Helena said, trying for levity. "I will be fine. You should be more worried about the other vampire," she announced self-confidently, making Myka's teary eyes roll a bit in exasperation.

"Still," she rasped. "I would like to have you back here, with me, in one piece, you hear me?"

"Righty-ho, then!" Helena announced and clapped her hands in a fake attempt at cheerfulness. Myka could already see the dangerous glint of the experienced hunter settling over her lover's eyes.

Watching Helena silently and gracefully vanish out the window and into the darkness of the night, she hoped that experience would be enough.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks so much for the lovely reviews and all the favs and follows! I'm glad you guys still want to read more about this little AU! :')

* * *

Helena did not feel the chill the night carried on its tail, as she soundlessly glided through the towering trees surrounding her, her sharpened senses fully concentrating on catching the slightest disturbance in the air. Moonlight barely reached the ground through the tangled web of branches above her head, but the vampire did not need the moon to guide her.

Sometimes, when melancholy overtook her, she may have spared a few thoughts to her former, human existence, and sometimes, she even missed being human.

This was not one of those times.

A rustle to her right alerted her to another presence, but a quick whiff of her nose told her that it was just a mouse returning to its nest. Helena could hear its tiny heart beating furiously, as it perceived the hunter in its proximity.

The vampire had no interest in the tiny animal, however, and continued on her prowl.

As the underbrush grew thicker and the moon had reached its zenith, she stopped again. After having followed the scent of the intruder ever since entering the woods, she had finally found it. Motionless, except for the slight snarl curling her lips, Helena waited until the one she had been looking for stepped into her path.

The long waves of blonde hair seemed almost silver in the few beams of moonlight that had managed to sneak through the branches and the black eyes that reflected back at her were flecked with gold instead of her own red sparks. Helena snarled at the figure before her.

"I should have known you would be audacious enough to come here and threaten my mate."

"Oh, Helena. It is apparent that our mother is drawn to audacious characters, otherwise, she would never have turned you, either."

* * *

"What's with her?" Pete whispered through his teeth, while keeping an eye on his partner, who was busy wearing a hole in the floor, and had been doing so for the past hour.

Claudia looked up from her laptop screen, which was balanced on her knees and cast a glance towards the older woman. Eventually, she shrugged. "No clue, man. Why don't you go ask her?"

"I have, dude. But all she did was mumble 'I'm fine, Pete' and then gave me a look that I know to mean 'Leave me alone, or I will punch you'. So I left her alone. Because Myka's punches hurt, Claude."

"I'm sure they do." Claudia mumbled and continued typing. After a moment, she glanced over at Myka's anxious figure again. "Maybe she's just waiting for H.G.?"

"No," Pete said, shaking his head. "Leena said she's been here earlier, but she didn't see her leave."

"Huh. Weird."

"Totally. Do you think they had a fight?"

"Gods, I hope not. Those two are my OTP of all OTPs, I would not be able to stand to see them fight."

Claudia's outburst just managed to leave an utter look of confusion on Pete's face. "What's an OT-"

"We are not fighting."

Myka's voice made them jump, and Pete coughed, having choked on his own saliva.

"How did you-" He wheezed, his eyes teary and his head slightly red.

"Pete, you are not as quiet as you think you are, and I do have ears, you know?"

"Well, okay. So, what's going on, Mykes? You're making _me_ anxious with all the pacing," he managed.

Myka sighed heavily and drew a hand through her tangled curls, while finally coming to a halt in front of the couch. Looking at her two companions without really seeing them, she concentrated on her breathing.

"Helena seems to think another vampire wants to kill me."

"_What!_" Her two friends exclaimed as one, while jumping to their feet. Claudia barely managed to catch her laptop before it crashed to the ground.

"So she went off into the night and took it upon herself to play the white knight in shining armor – or black knight in dark leather – to _protect_ me."

Pete and Claudia looked confused. "But, Mykes, isn't that supposed to be a good thing? I mean, rather than to throw you to the wolves?"

"But Pete, she's out there all alone! What if something happens to her? She wants to protect me, I get it, but who's gonna protect her? I'm feeling so useless right now! I want to be out there with her and watch her back!"

"Mykes, I'm sure she's fine." Pete tried to soothe her. "She's a freaking vampire! She can handle herself."

Myka just groaned and fell into the cushions the other two had just vacated. Burrowing her face in her hands, they heard her mumble, "Unfortunately, her opponent is a vampire, too."

* * *

"Why have you come here, Danielle? Have you grown tired of being Elizabeth's play-thing?"

The blonde snarled at Helena's comment. "Don't you dare insult her! She could have just cast you aside or sucked you dry, when you first came crawling to her for help, but instead she took you in and made you the most powerful hunter there is!"

"Yes," Helena agreed calmly, nodding slightly. "And I am grateful for what she did. That does not mean I have to cherish the earth she walks on for the rest of my existence. And neither should you, sister." Taking a step closer to the other vampire she had known for most of her undead existence, she cocked her head to the side dangerously. "You have yet to answer my question."

"Can't I just come for a visit, because I wanted to see my sister?"

"Not if you come into my territory unannounced."

"Oh, I think I announced myself quite clearly," Danielle stated with a smirk.

Helena growled. "You better stay away from her, do you hear me."

"You've never been this territorial before, Helena. What's happened to you? I can't imagine a meager human having this kind of effect on you."

The dark-haired vampire glowered at the other immortal. "Myka is not simply a 'meager human', as you so distastefully put it. She's my one. So you have better stay away from her, sister, if you want to live."

Danielle fell silent and the self-confident smirk slipped off her lips.

"Mother will not be happy with this, at all." She whispered, almost sadly.

Helena's brows furrowed. "What does Elizabeth have to do with this?"

The blonde sighed heavily. "She wants you back at her side, Helena. She misses you. You know how she gets, every fifty years or so. If she were a human male, I'd say she has hit another mid-life crisis. And, you know just as well as I do that when she get this way, she will not let a mortal stand in her way."

Helena's hands balled into fists and she felt her fangs elongating in rage, pressing against her lips. In a tightly controlled whisper, she stated defiantly, "Just because _mother _is having another tantrum, does not mean I will simply cast aside everything I hold dear and race back to her side to hold her hand through it."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Danielle whispered sadly, and closed the distance to take a hold of Helena's still tightly balled fists. Squeezing them gently, she gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, little sister. I don't think there's anything I can do for you, then."

"What do you mean?" she growled.

"I mean that she will be coming for you personally. So you had better be prepared."

Helena swallowed. She knew all to well that nothing could stop the Blood Countess if she was in the mood for a rampage.

* * *

_Moscow, Russia_

_February, 1896_

"This is useless," she heard her sister whine to her right, her voice muffled by the thick pelt covering half of her face, and the howling wind raging around them. "All we keep finding are corpses piled under feet of snow! At this rate, we'll never catch up with her!"

Helena rolled her eyes and kept her eyes alert and focused on her surroundings, hoping to find the slightest hint of where their maker could be headed. "She has just been left by her lover, who saw fit to replace her with a vampire who looks barely a day over twenty. You would think that, after so many centuries, she would stop taking it so bloody personally." Helena murmured and came to a halt when the wind carried a whiff of fresh blood towards her. Following the scent, she entered a small alleyway, her eyes needing no time at all to adjust, when the streetlamps on the main road could not reach into the recesses of the small street anymore. A few seconds later, she let out a heavy sigh, when she spotted a young man leaning against the dirty brickwork, half-covered in fresh snow. She didn't need to check to see if he was still alive. His last breath had left him not too long ago, she could tell.

Rubbing her eyes wearily, she turned to her sister, who had remained standing at the corner of the street. "This is the ninth body we have discovered in the last two hours, and I am relatively certain that we have not even found all of them. We have to hurry, or she will get only more bloodthirsty."

Swiftly returning to her previous path on the main road, her sister fell into step beside her. "Why do you even care? They're only mortals. They are meant to die."

"Not like this, they are not. And I know that vampires are prone to forget about it, but we have been mortal once too, Danielle."

The blonde huffed. "And now we are not. It is the natural order of things. Humans hunt animals, and we hunt the humans, Helena."

"Not for sport. Not if we don't have to. Not if we are having a tantrum and acting like a little child." Helena disagreed vehemently, thoughts of her dead daughter flooding her mind. Her little girl, alone and frightened in her last moments, surely asking herself why mommy had not been there to protect her, as she was supposed to do.

Shaking her head to clear her mind of these damning thoughts, she instead concentrated back on catching her maker's trail.

Helena could feel her sister's eyes boring holes into the side of her head as she regarded her curiously.

Finally, she declared, "You are still a relatively young fledgling. I'm sure those feelings of guilt you still cling to so ardently, will go away eventually. They always do." She gave Helena a smile as if that knowledge was meant to soothe her.

It didn't.

Not if the guilt was all that remained of her humanity.

Because without humanity, she would not feel the need to punish herself.

* * *

"How long do you think she will be out there?" Myka suddenly asked, at shortly before one in the morning, jolting her half-asleep companions out of their dazed state.

Steve, who had joined them in their vigil a few hours ago, rubbed his face and took a deep breath.

"We don't know anything more than you do, Myka. I guess until Helena is satisfied that you are no longer in any danger. Either that, or until the dawn is closing in on her."

Myka just nodded absentmindedly, and turned back to her vigil at the window.

Meanwhile, Helena was pacing, not too far from her lover's night watch post, but still out of sight, trying to come up with a feasible plan of attack.

Letting the facts revue in her mind, she concentrated on what she knew.

One, she had a lover she would do anything to protect.

Two, her mother was Elizabeth Báthory, the "Blood Countess".

Three, her mother was in a very bad mood, which did never bode well, for anybody.

Four, her mother was coming to town, with the intention of killing her lover.

Five, Helena would rather perish than let anything happen to Myka.

Growling darkly in exasperation, the vampire knew that she couldn't decide her next course of action alone. In the span of a human heartbeat, she had crossed the distance between herself and the porch of the B&B and didn't waste any time entering the cozy establishment.

At the creak of the front door, Myka jumped up from her perch on the windowsill, and hurried towards the sound.

"Helena?" she called, but before she could so much as cross the threshold, the vampire was already standing in front of her.

"You're still awake," the immortal stated.

"Of course I am! I was worried about you!" Myka exclaimed and threw her arms around the other woman's neck, pulling her in close. "God, Helena. Promise me to never go off into the night like that again. I've been worried sick!"

Myka would have probably missed the slight tensing of Helena's muscles, had she not been so attuned to her already.

"What is it?" she asked, backing away slightly to get a good look at her face.

Helena seemed conflicted, the agent could tell.

"I need to speak with you urgently, darling. Let's have a seat, shall we?" H.G stated, and gently coaxed the other woman towards the couch.

"Do you...uh, do you want us to leave?" Claudia asked, unsure of her place at this very moment.

"No, please stay. Your opinions may prove helpful."

So they all found a seat somewhere and waited eagerly, their earlier tiredness evaporated for the moment, for Helena to start speaking.


End file.
